Lehigh handles Pitt -- and familiar foes -- 28-9

Mountain Hawks beat Panthers, who feature four Valley wrestlers.

Joey Ecklof allowed himself a nice chuckle while looking around Lehigh's Grace Hall after his Pittsburgh Panthers lost to the Mountain Hawks 28-9 on Friday night.

"It's just real great when you have the home crowd rooting for you," he said, flashing a smile.

The rabid crowd at Grace Hall rooting for an opposing wrestler?

The arena that has a reputation as a snake pit for opposing teams did have a portion of the 1,794 fans cheering for Ecklof, the Northampton High School graduate who ended his scholastic career with a third PIAA championship last March.

"When I saw Ecklof go out there, I thought to myself [that] it was kind of funny," Lehigh head coach Greg Strobel said. "We recruited Ecklof hard in high school and he still gets to wrestle in Grace Hall."

Ecklof (149) recorded a decision in his bout, but was the only one of four area wrestlers at Pitt to win on the night against the 11th-ranked Mountain Hawks, who face EIWA foe Navy 1 p.m. today at Grace.

Lehigh picked up big wins from the three seniors in its lineup, and junior Paul Weibel ended the night with a dynamic pin. Weibel, from Quakertown, bumped up to heavyweight from 197 and used a cement job -- a specialty move crafted and exported from Northampton High -- to stick the pin on Pitt sophomore Lou Thomas.

The hoped-for matchup of Lehigh's Matt Ciasulli against Ecklof, a true freshman, did not take place. Ciasulli, the junior out of Easton ranked 16th in the country, didn't weigh in, so Ecklof took on freshman Trevor Chinn.

Chinn (13-7) looked ready to score the opening takedown off a high single-leg and power trip, but slipped on the move to cover and hold Ecklof. The former Konkrete Kid covered Chin for what proved to be the decisive move. Ecklof (13-7) locked up a cradle for a two-point nearfall and a 4-1 lead at the end of the first period en route to an 8-3 win.

"On a scramble, you always have to be alert and keep fighting," Ecklof explained. " It seemed like I had more fans than [Chinn] did. It's always great when you have the crowd pumping you up."

The true-freshman growing pains have been evident for Lehigh's Matt Fisk (125). At Wyalusing High School, he set a PIAA record for most wins (175). Fisk (4-7) showed the hungry crowd inside Leeman-Turner Arena just how dominating he can be with a convincing technical fall over fellow true freshman Matt Gentzle (Easton).

Lehigh senior quad-captain Cory Cooperman (14-1) gave the crowd a thrill at 141. Ranked third in the country, he scored a reverse in the third period to snap a 2-2 tie, plus picked up a penalty point for locked hands en route to a 5-3 win over ninth-ranked Ronald Tarquinio.

Derek Zinck, another of Lehigh's quad captains, used seven takedowns en route to a 15-6 major decision over Sean Richmond, a redshirt freshman at Pitt from Easton.

Matt Cassidy, Lehigh's 197-pounder, spoiled the return of Parkland graduate Mike Heist. With the score tied at 1 in the second period, the pair went out of bounds and into the scorer's table despite referee Jeff Cook blowing his whistle to stop the action. Cassidy turned and appeared to kick at Heist, and ended up winning 2-1 on riding time.

Travis Frick, the other senior quad-captain in the active lineup, added a major decision over Pitt freshman Nick Padezan at 184 by picking up crucial riding time.